Jail Doors Open

[Gregory Matthews]

For a different, but interesting ministry of a Dallas, Texas SDA Church see:

https://atoday.org/setting-the-captives-free-adventist-church-in-texas-helps-in-effort-to-post-bail-for-9-in-jail/

[phkrause]

That's absolutely awesome!!

[GHansen]

There are some issues that are not addressed in the original article e.g.,  bail amount discrepancy. Do both individuals have the same type of arrest/conviction record? "Use that money to rehabilitate people, instead of putting them in jail,” Johnson said." Great idea; however, a significant number of criminals don't respond well to rehabilitation. Getting to work on time, having basic skills to perform a job properly e.g., literacy, math, diligence, perseverance, etc. are basic life skills many criminals lack. Generally, criminals are not just like non-criminals except they broke the law. Many have sociopathic tendencies, substance abuse issues, personality disorders which make rehabilitation difficult.

A couple of the more egregious examples of "rehabilitation" gone wrong involved an inmate participating in a conjugal visit that included his daughter. He raped his daughter during the visit, while his wife was present. SDA members wanted to rehabilitate a homeless man, allowed him to live in a shelter on church grounds, contrary to local regulations.  It came to a halt after people observed local children entering and exiting the shelter for some "playtime" with the previously homeless man. Not sure how that turned out but in addition to the possible harm done to the children, there was concern about the church's legal liability.

Wonder what might happen to the church program if one of their clients murders/rapes/robs/assaults while out on bail the church  footed? Criminals are hard to read. One participant in a chapel program was written up in a book on profiling sociopaths  due to the bizarre nature of his crimes. A hospital chaplain at a major medical center was one of the first convicted in the RC pedophile scandal. Never in my wildest imaginings would I have guessed he had a proclivity for children. Picture Joe Montana in a clerical collar  molesting children to begin  grasping the incongruity of it all.

Many criminals are not just like regular people apart from their crimes.